On 17 March 1969, in a message to all the countries of Europe, the Member States of the Warsaw Pact declare support for the establishment of good relations with the West and call for a conference on security in Europe.

Le 9 mars 1973, le quotidien belge La Libre Belgique s'interroge sur l'ouverture prochaine d'une véritable négociation entre la Communauté économique européenne (CEE) et le Conseil d'assistance économique mutuelle (COMECON) sur la question des échanges commerciaux.

On 22 March 1972, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera describes the criticism of the European Economic Community (EEC), by Leonid Brejnev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

On 13 November 1972, at a conference on Europe held at the Palais Pálffy in Vienna, Edmund P. Wellenstein, head of the European Commission delegation for negotiations on the enlargement of the European Communities, outlines the decisions taken during the Paris Summit of 19 and 21 October 1972 regarding economic cooperation between the Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the countries of Eastern Europe.

On 17 October 1974, prior to the forthcoming official visit to Moscow by François Ortoli, President of the European Commission, the Netherlands daily newspaper De Volkskrant comments on the attempts to establish closer relations between the EEC and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon).

In May 1973, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung examines the attitude of the United States and the Soviet Union towards the European Economic Community (EEC).

Following his visit to the USSR in 1973, the Luxembourg Foreign Minister, Gaston Thorn, discusses possible relations between the EEC Member States and Comecon.

In this interview, Jean-Jacques Kasel, Legation Attaché in the Luxembourg Foreign Ministry from 1973 to 1976, describes the nature of relations between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon) in the special context of the 1970s.

In September 1975, the Soviet satirical weekly magazine Krokodil portrays the actions of the Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Defence Department, as a stumbling block in the process of détente between the East and the West.

En novembre 1975, le mensuel français Le Monde diplomatique compare la Communauté économique européenne (CEE) avec le Conseil d'assistance économique mutuelle (COMECON) et analyse les possibilités d'une coopération éventuelle entre les deux organisations.

On 18 February 1976, daily newspaper La Libre Belgique considers the reasons which have inspired Comecon to seek rapprochement with the Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC).

'A year on from Helsinki - Cheers! Here's to more success'. One year after the Conference on security and cooperation in Europe (CSCE), Fritz Behrendt is strongly critical of the easing of East-West hostilities.

In February 1977, German weekly publication Der Spiegel comments on the talks between the Soviet Union and the European Economic Community (EEC) on the issues of fishing zones.

In June 1978, the monthly publication Vision considers the prospect of commercial trade between the countries of the Eastern bloc and those of the European Economic Community (EEC).

On 30 September 1971, in Washington, the United States and the Soviet Union sign an agreement in an effort to reduce the risk of outbreak of nuclear war.

On 18 June 1973, the US President, Richard Nixon (centre), welcomes Leonid Brezhnev (left), First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, to the White House.

On 19 June 1973, the US President, Richard Nixon (left), welcomes Leonid Brezhnev (right), First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, to Washington with a view to resolving the issue of nuclear weapons limitation.

On 22 June 1973, the US President, Richard Nixon (right), and the First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, Leonid Brezhnev (opposite at table), travel to California on board the ‘Spirit of 76’ Air Force One Presidential aircraft.

On 25 June 1973, at the end of the visit by the First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, Leonid Brezhnev, to the American President, Richard Nixon, the two Heads of State issue a Joint Communiqué which outlines the efforts made by the two countries to ease tensions between them.

In July 1973, the lead story in the Soviet satirical magazine Krokodil focuses on the efforts made by the United States and the Soviet Union on the issue of disarmament. On 22 June 1973 in Washington, these two countries signed an important agreement on the prevention of nuclear war, which symbolised the new climate of peaceful coexistence.

'And I'd planned to go and pick mushrooms!' The Moscow-based satirical magazine Krokodil is of the opinion that the signature of the Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War by the USA and the Soviet Union, on 21 June 1973 in Washington, dispels the spectre of nuclear war and death.

In April 1970, Kurt Waldheim (centre of podium), Austrian Foreign Minister, welcomes US and Soviet delegations to Vienna for disarmament talks.

On 20 April 1970, the US and Soviet delegations meet at Belvedere Palace in Vienna for negotiations on the SALT I agreement on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

On 20 July 1970, German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung analyses the reasons for the deadlock in negotiations between the United States and the USSR on disarmament, and expresses concern over the risk of a renewed world arms race.

On 26 May 1972, in Moscow, the US President, Richard Nixon, and his Soviet counterpart, Leonid Brezhnev, sign an ABM agreement limiting anti-ballistic defense missiles with nuclear warheads.

On 28 and 29 May 1972, following the signing by the United States and the Soviet Union of the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems, the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the current situation regarding the ‘arms race’ and lists the measures announced to limit nuclear weapons.

In July 1972, the French monthly newspaper Le Monde Diplomatique analyses the scope of the SALT I Agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union, signed in Moscow on 26 May 1972, which limits anti-ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.

On 25 January 1973, despite the signing, in May 1972, of the SALT I agreement on the limitation of offensive nuclear weapons, the cartoonist, Lang, believes that the future of the disarmament process between the United States and the Soviet Union remains at risk.

On 23 September 1974, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung considers the true purpose of negotiations between the US and the USSR on disarmament and condemns the risked to the world posed by nuclear weapons.

Dans ses Mémoires, Henry Kissinger, ancien secrétaire d'État américain, rappelle la complexité des négociations entre les États-Unis et l'Union soviétique au sujet de la limitation des armes stratégiques et souligne l'impact de ces négociations sur le concept américain de défense nationale.

‘You can go first …’ On 26 February 1977, as the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) are held, Dutch-born cartoonist Fritz Behrendt paints an ironic picture of the continuing mistrust between the United States (on the left, President Carter) and the Soviet Union (on the right, Soviet leader Brezhnev) with regard to disarmament.

In June 1978, the United States and the Soviet Union reaffirm the importance of continuing the disarmament process in the area of strategic offensive weapons.

On 4 May 1979, in the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the cartoonist, Behrendt, speculates on the genuine will of the US President, Jimmy Carter, and of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, to implement the SALT II disarmament agreement.

On 10 May 1979, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung denounces the limited scope of the SALT II Treaty, signed in Vienna on 18 June 1979, and expresses its fears over how the nuclear arms race might end.

On 11 June 1979, for German weekly publication Der Spiegel, the signature, on 18 June 1979 in Vienna, of the SALT II agreements on the limitation of strategic arms paradoxically leads the United States and the Soviet Union to continue the arms race.

On 18 June 1979, US President, Jimmy Carter, and Leonid Brejnev, First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, sign the SALT I Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty.

On 18 June 1979, US President, Jimmy Carter, and Leonid Brejnev, First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, add an additional protocol to the SALT II Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty setting a series of precise ceilings for authorised weapons.

On 18 June 1978, as part of the disarmament negotiations, the United States and the Soviet Union provide information on their respective strategic weapons.

On 18 June 1979, a few hours after having signed, in Vienna, the SALT II agreements on the limitation of strategic nuclear weapons, the US President, Jimmy Carter, describes to the US Congress the significance of this new disarmament agreement.

On 18 June 1979, US President Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, sign the SALT II Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty in Vienna.

On 3 October 1979, the Belgian daily newspaper Le Soir describes the response of US President Jimmy Carter to the Soviet military presence in Cuba and the measures he intends to take in an endeavour to avoid the failure of the SALT II agreement on the limitation of strategic arms.